I followed Doug’s suggestion to flesh out consumer reactions to the latest Salmonella outbreak and visited the farmers market in Idaho while visiting my boyfriend.

I read the results of a poll published by the Associated Press, concluding that half of Americans are changing their buying behavior because of the most recent salmonella outbreak.

I was surprised at the market when all the people who I managed to grab for a short interview (shoppers busy shopping) replied they weren’t afraid of getting sick from the food they were buying.
 
But they weren’t feeling completely safe either.

I guess getting diarrhea once in a while is just part of life. And things can get out of control for farmers, large and small, unless you are controlling, of course. 

“I’m buying tomatoes now,” she said. “Nothing is safe unless it comes from your own backyard and you have full control and knowledge over how you grow the produce.”

One woman even said that the salmonella outbreak was simply fake. She understood it as some sort of scam of the government to get people to believe in something to act a certain way and that it’s destroying people’s lives.

Wow.

Didn’t quote her in my article.

But this was the general reaction I got:

“Everything is locally grown and I want to support local, including a friend who works at a farm,” she said. “I don’t think it’s safer though.”

I agree with the conclusion of this shopper:

“With rising oil prices, people have been concerned about other things too,” he said. “They are more concerned about sustainability and the environment, and they think coming to the market supports the cause.”

Mayra Rivarola is a journalism student at Kansas State University hoping to graduate in 2010 when she plans to return to her native Paraguay.  She loves traveling, cooking, and watching TV commercials. Mayra is also addicted to the Internet and is eternally thankful for Google.